I am often rather disgusted by advertising messaging I feel is in poor taste, lacking intelligence, has a negative or deprecating slant, or is inane or otherwise obnoxious. Yes, I can be overly critical at times, but it’s because I believe integrity should be at the root of marketing for it to truly be good, and there isn’t often a whole lot of it in mainstream messaging I see. That said, I have to say that Bloomingdales’ recent holiday ad for Rebecca Minkoff merchandise has to take the cake as one of the absolute worst ever.
The ad suggests that men should “Spike Your Best Friend’s Egg Nog When They’re Not Looking.” Bloomingdales has since apologized for the “poor taste” and “error in judgement”, but only after the massive social media backlash. To say this is in extremely poor taste and an error in judgement is the understatement of the century. It’s blatantly suggesting young men commit a felony since spiking someone’s drink is illegal, and according to the U.S. Department of Justice, drug rape is one of the most common sexual assault crimes today.
So my question is, how on earth did anyone arrive at the conclusion that there was anything remotely professional, appealing, ethical, or acceptable in producing, much less actually publishing, material like this? Additionally, what could it possibly have to do with the holidays since it was produced specifically for their holiday catalog, and how could anyone in a position to approve ad materials at Bloomingdales even remotely think it was in the company’s best interest to approve something so disgusting and creepy?! I have no issue with pushing the envelope and getting edgy, but that doesn’t mean you lose site of what is ethical and in integrity.
Of course, there is the speculation that this was a devious move on Bloomingdales’ part under the precept that all media is good media, and that doing something so outrageous is a strategic way to gain “earned media.” To that I say, if that was indeed the case, and it might well be, then double shame on them for the underhanded blackhat tactics, and for sensationalizing and capitalizing on a topic which epitomizes a systemic problem in our society.
This marketing professional is steadfastly of the mindset that when you have the power to influence people you should do so with integrity. Marketing doesn’t have to go to such extreme measures to be good—that’s not creativity… it’s stupidity, and just should not happen!